Washing-machine



A. BERDAN.

WASHING MACHINE.

(Nq Model.)

No. 369,906. Patented Sept. 13, 1887.

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N. PETEIE PhMo-L'rihngnphun wanna-gm In;

iJNiTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ADDISON BERDAN, OF SALINE, MICHIGAN.

WASHING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 369,906, dated September 13, 1887.

Application filed March 16, 1887. Serial No. 231,113.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ADDISON BERDAN, of Saline, in the county of Washtenaw and State of Michigan have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Washing-Machines; and I do hereby declare thefollowing tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, which form part of this specification. V

My invention relates to an improvement in washingmachines; and it consistsin the combination of the tub provided with suitable bearings at the center of its bottom, the lever which is journaled in these bearings, the connecting-rods attached to the lever, and the compressing devices which are secured to the outer ends of the rods, and which operate in opposite ends of the tub upon the raised slatted portions thereof, each of the compressing devices having a suitable opening through it for the free passage, back and forth, of the water, as will be more fully described hereinafter.

The object of my invention is to provide a washing-machine in which the clothes are cleansed by having the water forcibly expressed therefrom by means of devices which compress them against the ends of the tub.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of a washing-machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of one of the compressing devices alone.

A represents the tub, which has the top of each of the ends of its bottom raised upward by means of suitable pieces, B, placed therein so as to form an inclined surface. Upon the top of each of these inclined surfaces B are placed a number of slats, C, so as to allow the water to circulate freely back and forth through the clothes. These inclined surfaces B and slats 0 cause the clothes to drop back into position again each time after having been compressed against the end of thetub.

Secured upon the center of the top of the bottom of the tub are the bearings D, upon the top of which is journaled the operating-lever H. Secured to this lever, at any suitable distance above its lower end,are suitable parallel arms, I, which extend at right angles to (No model.)

the lever, and pivoted to the ends of these arms I are the connecting-rods H. To the outer ends of these connecting-rods H are secured the compressing devices J, by means of which the clothes placed upon the inclined surfaces and slats are alternately compressed against the ends of the tub for the purpose of forcing the water from them. Each one of these compressing devices is formed of two wide fiat boards of suitable thickness, and which extend from one side of the tub to the other. These boards are separated a suitable distance by means of slats L, which are placed between them, and which separate them sufficiently to allow the water to pass freely back through them toward the center of the tub while the clothes are being compressed against its ends. These two boards form double bearing-surfaces for forcing the water from and through the clothes for the purpose of cleansing them. When the lever is moving in one direction,one of the compressors moves forward and the other compressor is drawn backward from the opposite end, so as to allow the clothes to drop back from the end of the tub and assume a new position to be again acted upon. The clothes being thus forced againstthe ends of the tub are quickly cleansed without any of that rubbing action which so soon wears them out.

The inclined pieces B do not extend quite to the ends of the tub; and placed between the ends of the tub and the ends of the inclined pieces are the tilting boards 0, which are connected to the operating-lever H at their upper edges by the cords or wires P. When the lever is moved toward one end of the box, the compressing device at that end forces the clothes against the side of the tilting board, and then when the lever is moved in the opposite direction the cord or wire]? draws the upper edge of the board over toward the center of the tub, thus forcing the clothes away from the end of the tub and placing them in a new position to be again operated upon by the compressor. These boards serve to keep the clothes from being compressed ina hardmass against the ends of the tub, and thus insure that all parts of them shall be acted on alike by thecompressor. As the clothes are changed in position at each stroke of the lever..they are more quickly washed than when they are allowed to remain against the end of the tub,and ating-lever H, and the cords P, connected to the 16 thus have the compressor acting upon one part upper edge of the boards 0 and the operatingonly. lever H, substantially as shown and described. Having thus described my invention, I In testimony whereof I affix my signature in 5 ciaimpresence of two witnesses.

The combination of the tub A, provided with ADDISON 'BERDAN. inclined surfacesBat its ends,the tilting boards VVit-nesses: O, placed at the ends of the tub,the compressing MYRON WEBB, devices connected by the rods H,with the operi J OH GEORG SoHNIs. 

